Avoiding distracting background noise

[Jhanananda]

I have found that avoiding certain kinds of distracting background noise can help to deepen one's meditation/religious experience.

Saturday Nikita and I drove along the Perkinsville Road, but before we got there we stopped at the Garchen Buddhist Institute.  There an office worker told us that they have meditation masters available for guidance, and they have people there who are engaged in long retreats, up to 3 years.  She informed us that the cost of those extended retreats is $700/month for room and board. 

Considering that room and board anywhere in the USA would cost far more than that, it seemsed like a reasonable price.  On the other hand, anyone on a long retreat would have to have $8,400/year to attend a long retreat.  That price seems to only serve the wealthy who can afford to take off from work for a few years, and pay $8,400/year for room and board.

However, since I have yet to meet any Buddhist priest or meditation teacher who has a clue about deep meditation, I wondered just how skilled their "meditation masters" were.  I had spent about a year there, about 10 years ago, helping them setup their sound system.  At the time I found no one there with any attainment whatsoever.

After the kind introduction Nikita and I sat in meditation in their meditation hall.  I dropped right into the still mind of the second jhana, but I was unable to drift deeper, because I had noticed that they had a very loud ticking clock in their meditation hall.

The sounds that I find that are intensely distracting for deeper meditation are mechanical and electronic sounds, such as: the humming of motors, ticking clocks, refrigerators, air-conditioners, engines, etc; because they have a highly rhythmic and consistent frequency, which tends to reinforce our sense of space-time.  Whereas, I find organic sounds seem to have no limiting effect upon the depth of my meditation, such as: the wind, the ocean, the sound of crickets, birds, coyotes, owls, etc.; thus I can easily drift into the deeper states of meditation experiences, which involve space-time dilation.

After maybe as little as 15 minutes of meditation I got up and left their meditation hall, because the second jhana is just not good enough.  Being a jhana junkie I want depth, or no meditation at all.

I left the meditation hall, and thanked our hosts; then I walked back to my van.  I noticed at the edge of their parking lot they had built a solar shower for their campers, which I had suggested 10 years or more earlier; however, it looked like it had only been recently built. Nonetheless, I took a shower while I waited for Nikita.

Nikita came back to his car about 20 minutes after my shower.  I asked him, "So, how was your meditation?"

He said, "Ticking clock."

I laughed, he was spot on with no suggestion from me.  One has to wonder how masterful meditation teachers, gurus and Buddhist priests are, when they have a loud ticking clock in their meditation hall.

[Jhanon]

In my past search for room and board, I've found it much more uncertain and difficult to even get welcomed into a Buddhist Monastery. So if one were on SSDisability, this could be a viable option. I didn't intend to be taught by their "masters" anyway. I even told Thanissaro that (unwise in retrospect) I wouldn't need much guidance.

I came across this post as I began seriously considering living out of a van or modest RV. I think a Van would be cheaper, easier, and most effective. Also, it provides one with freedom--especially considering if one embraces the bio-fuel you've provided us knowledge of--when a collapse takes place.

[Jhanananda]

Jhanon, the ego of the priest, regardless of the religion, has to be placated.  So, pretend to need their guidance, then seek your solitude. 

I agree, a van is useful for a mendicant in these days, and if you purchase one that runs on diesel, then you can fuel it on waste oils.  And, I can help you figure that out.  So, come and visit some day.